1. Critical Criteria for Curriculum Alignment Colette Alexander Director, Accreditation – FEA Research Assistant - LSIA ACU – Learning and Teaching Conference Friday 15 July 2016 C Alexander, FEA LSIA

2. Reflexivity in Assessment Praxis Is it that they can’t, or that they just don’t understand what it is you want them to do? “I think we should push the button…” C Alexander, FEA LSIA

3. Guild Knowledge in Assessment By definition, experienced teachers carry with them a history of previous qualitative judgments, and where teachers exchange student work among themselves or collaborate in making assessments, the ability to make sound qualitative judgments constitutes a form of guild knowledge. (Sadler, 1989, p.126) Through engagement with certain calibration procedures, assessors become able to tune their judgment-making ability. (Sadler, 2013, p.18) C Alexander, FEA LSIA

4. An Invitation to Guild Knowledge …the learner has to (a)possess a concept of the standard (or goal, or reference level) being aimed for, (b)compare the actual (or current) level of performance with the standard, and (c)engage in appropriate action which leads to some closure of the gap. (italics in original) (Sadler, 1989, p.121) C Alexander, FEA LSIA

5. Curriculum Alignment OutcomesTeachingAssessment Communication with students for impact on learning C Alexander, FEA LSIA

6. Syzygy Learning Outcomes – Course and Unit – Graduate Attributes – AQF Standards – Professional Standards C Alexander, FEA LSIA

7. Syzygy Teaching and Learning – Content Knowledge – Pedagogical Content Knowledge What you teach How you teach it (Shulman, 1986) C Alexander, FEA LSIA

8. Syzygy Assessment – Measurable Evidence – Demonstration of learning/achievement – Disciplinary and Professional C Alexander, FEA LSIA

9. Principles of Curriculum Alignment The intended curriculum must: Identify what is critical to performance. The enacted curriculum must: Provide clarity for the novice about those things that are critical to performance Negotiate the learners’ ‘zone of proximal development’ (Vygotsky, 1978) C Alexander, FEA LSIA

10. Key Questions What does a ‘literate/millenial/ mature-age student/career changer’ bring to the specialisation of the academic discipline that will help them negotiate the academic and professional demands of the task/unit/course? How can I link tothat in the development of criteria that both communicates expectations and facilitates calibrated judgements? C Alexander, FEA LSIA

11. Not all criteria are equal… Of the large pool of potential criteria that could legitimately be brought to bear for a class of assessments, only a relatively small subset are typically used at any one time. (Sadler, 1989, p.124) In the same way that not all test items are equal… 1.4 x 5 2.3 x 6 3.5 x 2 4.6 x 4 5.34 x 27 CTT IRT C Alexander, FEA LSIA

12. Professional Expectations Disciplinary/ Academic Expectations Student Capability TASKS CRITERIA STANDARDS C Alexander, FEA LSIA

13. A Closing Story… What is critical… – in the field? – to assure student learning? C Alexander, FEA LSIA

14. References Alexander, C.R., & Praeger, S. (2009). Smoke gets in your eyes: Using Rubrics as a tool for building justice into assessment practices. Paper presented at the Australian Teacher Educators Association Conference, Albury, Wodonga, Australia. Alexander, C., & Praeger, S. (2012, July). Listening to the student voice about assessment: How assessment tools communicate. Poster presented at the Australian Teacher Educators Association Conference, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Edwards, R. (2011). Translating the prescribed into the enacted curriculum in college and school. Educational Philosophy and Theory 43(1), 38-54. Porter, A.C. (2004). Curriculum Assessment. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University. Sadler, D.R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science 18, 119-144. Sadler, D.R. (2013). Assuring academic achievement standards: from moderation to calibration. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 20(1), 5-19. Shulman, L.S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher 15(2), 4-14. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner & E. Souberman Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wilson, M., & Gochyyev, P. (2013). Psychometrics. In T. Teo (Ed.), Handbook of Quantitative Methods for Educational Research, 3-30. C Alexander, FEA LSIA